16 April 2008

MonaVie LLC, creator of the leading nutritional acai blend beverage, today announced the launch of a worldwide campaign: “The Open Door — Network Marketing for the 21st Century.” The campaign calls on direct sellers and network marketers to end any and all policies and procedures that seek to bind their independent contractors with unfair and abusive non-compete agreements.

Punitive lawsuits against distributors who choose to leave network marketing companies have become a common tactic for a few companies within the industry. The goal of these suits is to discourage healthy competition and to impede distributors’ ability to make a living for themselves and their families. Even distributors who have fulfilled demanding non-compete agreements have been sued when they attempt to join another network marketing company years later.

“Non-compete agreements were designed for high-level corporate employees, not for independent contractors,” says Dallin Larsen, MonaVie founder and president. “Some network marketing companies use overly burdensome language in their agreements as a punitive tool to tie their independent contractors to them for life, often interfering with the individual entrepreneur’s ability to earn a living. It’s my belief that direct selling companies need to earn the trust of their most valued asset, their distributors, on a daily basis. If a distributor, for whatever reason, no longer trusts his or her company, that distributor should be free to go in another direction without undue restriction.”